1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a stuffing apparatus and more particularly to such a stuffing apparatus which is particularly well suited to the stuffing of olives with pimento or other substances automatically, rapidly and with a precision and dependability never before achieved in the art.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The prior art is replete with a multiplicity of devices related to the coring and/or stuffing of drupaceous fruit, such as olives. The prior art contains a plurality of machines utilizing the continuous traveling of objects during pitting and stuffing operations; the indexing of olives through pitting and stuffing stations; the use of cams to actuate pitters and stuffers in relation to olives borne in carriers; and the use of a pair of gripping members for olives to be processed.
The abundance of prior art devices for the same or similar purposes testifies to the magnitude of the effort heretofore directed to the provision of effective machines for pitting and stuffing olives and the like. There has been a continuous search for a more efficient, rapid, dependable and practical machine for stuffing objects such as olives and which is capable of producing a finished product having a pleasing appearance undamaged by mechanical manipulations and being of consistently high quality and marketable form. In many instances the deficiencies encountered in the use of prior art devices have prolonged the dependance of the industry upon manual labor in the stuffing of such objects. Because of the high cost of manual labor in the United States, this results in the reliance of the industry in the United States to a significant degree upon fruit stuffed in foreign countries where manual labor is less expensive.
Therefore, it has long been recognized that it would be desirable to have a stuffing apparatus for use in the stuffing of objects, such as olives, with a stuffing material on an automatic and very rapid basis and which efficiently and dependably produces finished products of consistently high quality unaffected by mechanical manipulations and possessing a completely pleasing marketable appearance.